Posts Tagged ‘Exogeology ROCKS!’

In this episode, we meet Dr. Dante Lauretta, Professor of Planetary Science at the University of Arizona and Principal Investigator for the OSIRIS-REx mission.

I’ve talked about the OSIRIS-REx mission before, and it’s one of the coolest things going on in exogeology: they’re going to send a spacecraft to an asteroid and bring back a piece. Wonder what it’s like to be in charge of all of that? Watch the video below to find out!

In Exogeology ROCKS! Episode 10, we talk with Dr. Rosaly Lopes, a planetary scientist at JPL. She tells us all about volcanoes on Io, cryovolcanism on icy moons like Enceladus, and her travels to Earth volcanoes. I liked hearing about how you should do what you love, and how as a scientist, you always have to keep learning. Her story about catching a gigantic volcanic eruption on Io during the Galileo mission is really interesting. Watch it all here:

Last month, I went to the last couple days of Spacefest, where I got to hear lots of interesting people speak and even got to interview a couple of people. Today, we meet Emily Lakdawalla, the Senior Editor and Planetary Evangelist for the Planetary Society. In this episode of Exogeology ROCKS!, we talk about where we should explore next in the solar system, landing on Titan, why communication is a useful skill, and much more. I liked hearing about how you have to be creative to be a geologist. Watch the episode below!

In Exogeology ROCKS! Episode 7, host Zoe Bentley meets astrobiologist Dr. Britney Schmidt, who talks to us about her travels in Antarctica, why ice is fascinating, and how all of that relates to Europa. Can life survive under an ice sheet? What funny things happened in Antarctica? Find out all of this in the latest episode of Exogeology ROCKS!

Woo-hoo! I’ve just finished the sixth installment in the Exogeology ROCKS! video series. The first five can be seen here.

In Exogeology ROCKS! Episode 6, we meet Dr. Cynthia Phillips, a planetary geologist for the SETI Institute. She tells us about some interesting worlds in our solar system including Europa, Io, and Mars, how to use images to study them, and much more. I particularly like her stories about her funniest and most exciting experiences as a planetary geologist.

Curiosity's first image taken from the surface of Mars. Woo-hoo! (Image credit: NASA)

Curiosity, also known as the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), traveled for about 352 million miles (567 million km) from a cleanroom at JPL on Earth to a place called Mount Sharp in Gale Crater on Mars. It’s hard to imagine traveling so far.

Curiosity's cleanroom, way back in 2010.

Mount Sharp, the area on Mars Curiosity will explore. (Image credit: NASA)

Tonight, August 5, Curiosity’s team worked through the “Seven Minutes of Terror” while everyone else, including myself, just hoped and wished for the best.

Can you even imagine how hard it would be to land a rover? Can you imagine just how nervous you’d be that all the work put into Curiosity would either have the chance to succeed amazingly or just fail terribly? I can’t, but that’s what Curiosity’s team must have felt.

Landing Curiosity had several stages. (Image credit: NASA)

Finally, can you imagine the relief and excitement as Curiosity landed safely on solid ground? I can, but not even half as much as Curiosity’s team, I’m sure.

I’m so, so glad Curiosity made the landing safely. Congratulations, Curiosity! You ROCK!

I’m pleased to announce the fifth episode of Exogeology ROCKS! In this episode, we hear from Professor Geoff Marcy, Professor of Astrophysics at University of California, Berkeley. Professor Marcy tells us about the search for exoplanets—planets which orbit around other stars.

How are exoplanets found? Are there other Earth-like planets? Could there be aliens on them? Find out the answers to these questions and more in Exogeology ROCKS! Episode 5.

Watch the sixty-first clue of Zoe’s Geo Party!, a 61 clue long trivia game. Look for a new video clue every weekday! This is the last clue of the last category in the last round.

Today’s video is the final clue of this Zoe’s Geo Party! game! I call it: Finale Geo Party!

Finale Geo Party! is a little bit different from the previous Geo Party!, because there’s only one clue. You’ll see the correct response tomorrow. After Tuesday, Zoe’s Geo Party! will be taking a break. We’ll be back with another game in 2012.

Write your guess on the Exogeology ROCKS! Facebook page and enjoy the finale. Remember to phrase your response to each clue in the form of a question! While you’re there, be sure to become a fan of Fractured Fate on Facebook.

I’m thankful for my family and friends of course. My family has always helped me reach my goals and been there for me, and so much more. I’m thankful for my friends, too, all for different reasons.

I’m also thankful for the people who discover more and more about the world, the solar system, and the universe. There’s so much to see and learn about everything, everywhere, and I’m thankful that I can keep learning about everything possible all the time.

That’s one reason why I started Exogeology ROCKS! and Zoe’s Geo Party!—so I can tell other people about things I learn about exogeology and everything else.

I’m also thankful for good food, well written fiction, and amazing places.

Exogeology ROCKS! presents the thirty-first clue of Zoe’s Geo Party! , a 61 clue long trivia game. Look for a new video clue every weekday! This is the first clue of the first category in this round.

This week’s category was filmed in Milpitas, California, where I recently moved to and where I now live part time. Where do you live? I like hearing from people all over the world. Post your answer on the Exogeology ROCKS! Facebook page along with your response to the latest clue, and enjoy the category. Remember to phrase your response to each clue in the form of a question!

Yesterday, the first round of Zoe’s Geo Party! ended. Thirty clues have been revealed so far—which one was your favorite? Which category was the best? How can the next round be made even better? I appreciate all feedback.

There’s a lot about Mercury we’ve found because of MESSENGER. For example, could you imagine seeing a whole side of a planet which you’ve never seen before? MESSENGER gave us just that in this picture:

The instruments on board will be turned on and checked on the 23rd of March, and on the 4th of April the mission’s primary science phase begins. I look forward to seeing what new discoveries are made about our amazing innermost planet!

Happy Halloween! Guess what’s finally finished? Exogeology ROCKS! Episode 4. It’s been a long time in the works, but I’ve completed the fourth episode of my Exogeology ROCKS! series. Exogeology ROCKS! Episode 4 features an interview with Captain Mark Kelly, mission commander of STS-134, the last scheduled space shuttle mission. For the first time ever, I’ve uploaded the full episode of Exogeology ROCKS! in one piece.

Yay! My second article is on the NASA website! You can read it here on the JPL website and here on the NASA website. In the article I wrote about my great experience visiting NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.